Jen's Writing Journey

Welcome to the new home of Jen's Writing Journey, the blog that chronicles Jennifer Roland's writing life and provides useful information for new and seasoned writers.

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I decided to post early this week to avoid the holiday run-off. I wish you all a lovely holiday weekend. If, like me, you’ll be spending a good portion of it writing, well then I wish you happy writing.

The Business of Writing

Could Changes in the Copyright Law Save Newspapers?
This article in Editor & Publisher describes the argument that copyright law should be amended to bar aggregation. I think rewriting copy just to avoid infringing on copyright is a violation, but linking to it? If no one links to your content, how will people find it? I’m not sure I’m on board with this one.

Poll Results on E-published Author Earnings per Title
Marianne Lacroix provides some actual data on how much an e-published author may earn. The results were from an anonymous poll, so there could be a large chunk of non-responders or even multiple responders, but it is the first attempt I have seen to quantify earnings for e-publishers. I hope this begins a concerted effort to quantify writers’ earnings so that we can all enter the profession knowing what to expect financially.

Are You There, Amazon? It’s Me, JA
JA Konrath tells us why he doesn’t plan to buy a Kindle and what he would like to see from ebooks and ebook readers in the future.

Should You Self-Publish?
Another great post from JA Konrath. Here he gives some tips on when you should and shouldn’t self-publish.

Waiting By the Phone
The life of a writer isn’t so different from the life of a teenage girl after all. We are hit with horrible bouts of low self-esteem. We have to fight for respect from those around us. And we sit and wait for the phone to ring (or the email to pop up,as the case may be).

Craft

So What Are You?
A little kick in the pants from agent Janet Reid. Don’t spend your time thinking up fun ways to describe yourself; spend it writing.

Pre-Editing
Moonrat discusses the pros and cons of hiring an editor to help you shape up your manuscript for submission to agents and/or editors. It can be great, or it can be a huge money waster. Keep these points in mind when you make the decision of when or whether you need an editor.

Fiction

Normative Heterosexuality and the Alpha Male Hero
An interesting and informative look at the role of the alpha in our culture and in our fantasy.

Charting the Novel Story Arc
An essential component of the self-editing process, ensuring that your novel follows a strong arc, with an appropriate amount of time spent on buildup and release of tension can be time-consuming. Patricia Stoltey gives one way of handling the process.

Freelancing

Freelance Writer Hiring Trends: Credit Checks and Drug Tests??
Michael Stelzner describes a recent experience with a potential freelance client who wanted him to undergo a full background screening, as if he were coming on staff. We can debate the practice of background checks on staff until the cows come home, but I thought part of the reason we wanted to freelance was to be free of the restrictions of full-time office work. This seems a bit over the top to me.

How Not to Hire Freelance Writers and Bloggers
Jennifer Mattern weighs in on some further practices that make the hiring process a bit unwieldy for the average freelancer. In particular, the idea of writing a custom sample can be a bit much. The life of a freelancer is spent on so many different non-writing tasks, that our writing time really needs to be reserved for billable projects, not spec work.

• Writing Roundup, July 17 How is this collection working for you? Do you have any categories of posts you'd like me to include? Any blogs you think I should be following for potential inclusion? The Business of Writing Distance Insulates Journalists Have you ever gotten your hands on some ill-gotten research? Do you think......
• Writing Roundup, July 10 I hope you are all having as productive a month as you would like it to be. This seems like such a good time to take a breather and go light on the writing projects. Not me, I always seem to have big deadlines in the summer. Maybe next year,......
• Book Review: Straight Talk from the Editor Want a quick reference to help you prepare and submit your manuscript the right way?Author and editor W. Terry Whalen recounts his own experiences receiving and reading submissions and gives good insight into what an editor is looking for. In this Amazon short, you will find his advice boiled......
• Set Yourself Up for Success We all know that there is no magic formula for success. It comes down to hard work and good timing. You can't control timing, but you can control how hard--and smart--you work. 1. Research If you want to write for a particular magazine, subscribe to it and visit the local......
• I Am Tired As I posted on Pop Culture Curmudgeon earlier this week, I attended a teambuilding ropes course on Monday for my day job. It kicked my ass, and I've been sore and exhausted ever since.I also had some trouble with the power supply for my laptop, so it was also exhausted.......

• My Action Action stems from passion. You may passionately believe I am mistaken, and feel powerfully moved to tell me so. The world moves and we move...
• Knocking Out the Beliefs That Hold You Back This post is from GRS staff writer April Dykman. A college professor once told my journalism class that freelance writing is something you should do...
• Before You Submit Your Articles, Do This... To all writers and non-writers alike, now is the time to dig up those previously buried creative writing skills! Along with the communication technology explosion,...
• Career Tip - How to Write For a Living Learning how to write for a living can be tough, especially if you are new to the field. The demands of living expenses, social expectations...
• San Diego Golf Academy -- Go to Golf College For a Golf Career  If the sport of golf is your passion in life, you need to consider attending the San Diego Golf Academy.  Through programs of study at...